Valthe

History

The village was first mentioned in 1217 as "in Valten", and probably means "cow shed". Valthe is an esdorp which developed in the Middle Ages. It is possibly daughter settlement of Odoorn. The village centre is called Oud-Valthe and did not have a church, but was encircled by five essen (communal pastures). In 1621, the Valtherschans was constructed. It was sconce to defend Drenthe against invasion. In 1665, Christoph Bernhard von Galen, the Prince-Bishop of Münster, tried to take the sconce but failed. The sconce was later neglected and disappeared from the landscape. In 1930, the small Bethel church was built in expressionist style. There were five hunebedden (dolmen) near Exloo: D33 to D37. D36 and D37 are twins which are located on the south side of the village. They are in a neglected state and the capstones of D36 have fallen off.